Current solutions for routing electrical lines though a flange of a fuel delivery module in a fuel tank for automotives are: 1) over-molded terminals with a connector on the inside and outside (sealed or unsealed), 2) over-molded terminals with a connector outside and soldered wires on the inside, 3) drop-in electrical connector (separate assembly sealed to the flange with an O-ring and clipped into the flange), 4) over-molded pre-mold (terminals with wire harness are molded over in a pre-mold assembly).
In a Flex Fuel application (E85 fuel with high methanol content), a sealed electrical connection must be provided both inside and outside of the flange. Employing the above-mentioned solutions for Flex Fuel applications is expensive (e.g., requiring sealed connector(s)), results in high permeation rates, and requires significant packaging space. For example, employing an overmolded pre-mold assembly can result in leakage between the pre-mold and the flange and/or between the terminal(s) and the pre-mold.
Thus, there is a need to reduce the cost of sealing a wire harness with respect to a flange of a fuel module, to reduce permeability rates, and to reduce packaging size/space.